Visions Art Museum - "Recent Acquistions from TCQC" 12-07-13

I drove to San Diego on Friday so I could be at the Museum for First Friday when there is sometimes a great crowd of people taking advantage of the free admission to museums and galleries.  However, it was very cold and windy and we recorded only about half the usual attendance.  It was fun being in the gallery and hearing the comments of the visitors.  We are still giving out ballots for everyone to vote for their favorite quilt and they all seem to look more closely and ponder the quilts to decide on just one that they like the best.  When the exhibit is over I'll let you know whose quilt gathered the most votes.

I spent the night at a local motel and prepared for my gallery walk/talk at 2pm.  It had sprinkled some in the morning and it was cold and windy.  About 1:15pm I looked out and it was pouring rain and the wind was whipping it sideways at times.  So, I was amazed and gratified that about 40 people came to the talk, which was a fundraiser for the Museum.  They were a very good audience and listened attentively.  I had told them before starting that my voice was not very strong, but I would speak as loudly as I could.  When the talking and walking were over many stayed to visit with friends and with me until we closed the doors at 4pm.  Altogether a lovely afternoon looking at and talking about quilts.  If you were not able to attend and would like a tour, call the museum to see if one can be scheduled.  619-546-4872  I am usually not available on Tuesdays.  


Here are three of the quilts as they are displayed.  Beth Smith, the Museum Director did the layout and it flows beautifully through the gallery.

"Desert Sands"  2013  Dena Dale Crain - Kenya, Africa  33.25"W x 29.25"L
On the left in the picture above is "Desert Sands" by Dena Dale Crain who lives in Kenya and travels to different countries to teach her quilt making methods.  I met her at Quilt National last May and she mentioned that she had some quilts with her.  Of course, I wanted to see them and this one spoke right up and said "buy me"!  It is made from silk tussah and dusted with gold foiling.  

"Quenching Rain"  2007  Melody Johnson - Palmer, TN 16.5W x 16.75"L 
In the middle in the picture at the top is Melody Johnson's "Quenching Rain" made after the end of a drought in Tennessee.  Melody had started using some commercial prints in her work, but for this one she couldn't find polka dots in the colors she wanted, so she cut out the dots and fused them to the background color - the lavender on dusty orange, the black on the orange at top, and the red-orange dots  on the green/yellow on the right.  The little trees are also cut out and fused on and the rain drops are hand stitched.  If you look closely at the blue rectangle in the center you can see a quilted puddle.  Such a colorful representation of welcome rain. 

"Nature's Lace"  2011 Lisa Jenni  Redmond, WA  36"w x 24"L
I apologize for the color here - it is a very green quilt and not as dark as this. Lisa made this for the quilt auction presented by the Association of Pacific West Quilters, but the auction had to be postpone and done online, which was not the original intent.  I was thrilled to have the winning bid because I had been waiting for the auction for over a year.  Her inspiration was a postcard sent by her daughter traveling in northern Australia.  The quilt shows beautifully the light shining through the palm fronds and Lisa's technique is wonderful.  

Big day for TCQC 10-22-13

Sorry, I am too tired to finish this post tonight. Check tomorrow afternoon for all the text.

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10-23-13 Noon - I'm BAAAACK! And Corky is also - he'll be at Camp Del until Saturday. Text for pictures has been added. Del

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I was in San Diego again today, this time with my friend Liz Williams along. We delivered the quilts to VAM for the exhibit "New Acquisitions from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection". These are quilts I have purchased since the previous exhibit at VAM in the summer of 2007. They were not necessarily made after 2007, but purchased after that date.

It is very exciting to see so many of the TCQC quilts on the wall at once - I can only hang about six at one time in my house, and not all in the same room. The exhibit is curated by Beth Smith, Director of Visions Art Museum: Contemporary Quilts and Textiles. It has been interesting to see which quilts she selected out of the 100 or so that I submitted and to hear her reasons why. Some of the quilts are included because I especially wanted them to be seen.

 

 This will be the view from the gallery entrance - minus the tables holding the quilts that are yet to be hung. The hanging process will take about two days, so the installation committee will be back tomorrow to complete the job. On the far left is "Desert Sands" by Dena Dale Crain of Lake Baringo, Kenya, Africa. The small quilt in the center is "Quenching Rain" by Melody Johnson of Palmer, Tennessee. The large quilt to the right is "Not Even Solomon" by Ruth de Vos of Perth, Western Australia.

 

 

Up on the scaffold are Installation bosses Kay Laboda and Kris Herman, and helping line things up is volunteer Ann Pitzer. They are hanging "Structured Chaos #14" by Beth Carney of Yonkers, NY. To the left is "Strip Tease #1" by Mary Leakey of San Juan Bautista, CA.

Ann Pitzer, volunteer, and Debbie Tatz, intern from the museum studies program at Mesa College, hang the triptych "Cowville" by Lisa A. Yoder of San Diego, CA.

 

Museum director Beth Smith stands in the main section of the gallery.  The scaffold is needed to hang these large pieces and adjust them so they are level.  Quilts for the other two walls are on the table.  On the left is “Not Even Solomon”  by Ruth de Vos of Perth, Western Australia.  Behind Beth is “Balance #19” by Ann Johnston of Portland, OR, and to the right is “Cataclysm” by Judith Content of Palo Alto, CA. 

 

 

Here are all eight of the Ruth McDowell quilts that will be hung together in one "room" of the gallery. Laying face down to protect the front of the quilt and the labels are more easily found and read. The latest acquisition is a 2001 Ruth quilt that recently came up in an estate sale and I was the lucky buyer. I have never seen it hanging and I hoped they would hang it before I left today, but no luck there. It is a very wide quilt, as you can see from the hanging slat on the table - 100". I can hardly wait to see it on the wall.

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